Method of purifying water.



W. M. JBWBLL.

4 METHOD OP PURIFYING WATER. APPLIOATIO FILED DEO. 20, 1907.

903,138. Patented Nov. 3, 19081 W f ,fw I 7 7 5 citizen of the United States,

sand is greater in UNITED srnrns iillegalnur onricn.

WILLIAM JEWELL, OF PARK RIDGE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE JEWELL ENGINEERING COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

No: 903,138. y

PUmFYrNs WATER.

Patented Nov. 3, 190s'.

.application led December 20, 1907.,` Serial No'. 407,368.

Te all whom it may concern." v

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. J EwnLL, a residing at Park Ridge, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, ful Improvements in Methods of'Purifying Water, of which the followin is a specification, reference being had to t e accompanyin drawings. v y invention relates tothe purification of water for potable and other pur oses by the use of a granular lter, and has or its obiect to provide a new and improved metho 'of water purification by the use of which the impurities may be -eiiiciently removed without filtration being materially retarded by the accumulation of air in the filter-bed. further object is to"make practical the use of a much finer and more compact filter-bed than could heretofore be successfully emphyed with negative-head filters.

tis well understood b those familiar with the art that it is desira le to use fine sand for a ,filter-bed, as the friction 4between the water and the sand is thereby increased, effecting a great saving in the use of coagulants and securing more uniform*` results than can be obtained with a coarser `filter- .bed. The use oa bed of Ene sand is especially advantageous in connection with socalled "negative-head or down-draft filters, where -the impure water is A forced throu h the filter-bed by suction applied from elow through the strainersystem, b reason of the fact that the bedof fine sand 1s compacted more closely by thev effect Iof such negative-head or down-draft, thus increasing the friction between the water and the sand. The result is that a greatly superior quality of Water at a given rate of flow, or the same quality at a higher rate of flow, may be ob-- tained than wit the use of a coarser bed; besides the amount of coaglulant required -is roportonately less with t e finer bed.. The

lter, since with fine sand it is practicable to use'a thinner layerof sand for the-bed, and the sand can be more easily suspended by the wash water as the area of the' articles of roportion to t eir weight than in the case o larg grains; thus a lviolent agitation of the d may be effected with less volume and pressureI of water wherel the filter-bed is composed of fine sand there- 5B by effecting an important saving inthe cost have invented certain new and usee bed is also advantageous in washlng the' of operation, particularly Iin large plants, such ascity Water-works, where the volume of water to be puriiied is great. And this is especially true where filtered water is used for washing purposes, as is now the general practice.

In negative-head filters as heretofore. constructed the passage of the impure water through the filte -bed under the iniiue'nce of the neGative-head has resulted inthe separation Imm the Water of they air contained in it and its accumulation in.` the filter-bed,-v

such accumulation taking place with greater f rapidity as filtraticncontinued, so that with aconsiderableamount of negative-head the filter wouldV be clogged in' 'a comparatively short time owing to the fact that the air accumulated in the bed would so impede the passage of the water through it as to make it necessary to wash the vfilter in order to restore the flow of waterthrough it to the necessary volume. Iior this reasonit has been found impractical to employeJ negative-head of l more than'a few lfeetf-usually about four feet. Furthermore., the accumulation of air in the bed -resulted inra variation inthe density of diiierent portions of the bed, since the air did not accumulate uniformly throu hout vthe various strata of the bed,-the resu t being that, in iiltering, the water would dart through the spaces affording less resistance, forming, in a sense, channels through` which the water might pass without being properly4 filtered,-or at least filtered as efficiently as the water passing through other portions of the filter-bed.

I vhave discovered, however, that by employing the negative head, or equivalent means,f to force water through a granular filter-bed and' at the saine time preventing tl'ue'accumulatio'nv of air within the filter-bed, water maybe purified .more eflicientlythan by the' use of a filter in which the air does accumulate, and-that the further advantages incident to the use of a bed of fine sand may be secured. Furthermore, I have found that by reventing the accumulation of air, as descri ed, a much greater negative-head may be employ ed, with the greater rapidity of filtration incident thereto, without detriment to the (lluality of the efiluent. l

In t 1e accompanying drawings I haveillustrated a form of apparatus which may lbe em loyed. for practicing my improved metho but it will .be understood that my invention may be practiced by the use of any suitable form of apparatus.

yIn the drawings,-Figure 1 is a sectional View, illustrating a filter; Fig. 2 is'a similar view, showing the strainer system in section; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail, or sectional view oll one of themanifold pipes, being av i water is conducted from the ilter, and which also serves as the inlet for washing the lter.

7 indlcates al header, which extends across the filter and is connected with the lower end of the pipe `6,-the upper portion 4of the header ("extending down from said pipe, as nhownin Fig. '2. A

8 indicates a series of i es, which, with the header 7, form a mani oid through which filtered ,water'is directed and delivered to the f ipe 6., Said pipes are inclined downward om' the header 7 and are provided on their under sides with strainers 9, preferably hemispherical in form, which are carried by plates 10, as shown in Fig. 3. In the con-l struction shown leach plate .10. is provided with ani ple 11, which screws into the under side of the `pipe 8, and the strainer 9 is se-l water used in cured to the under side of the plate by an upset annular flange 12 which engages its margin. Any desired number of strainers may, of course, be provided. The outlet or discharge pi e 6 extends downward below the bottom o the filter as far as desired.

The operation is as follows. AThe im 'ure water enters, the filter at the to of the terbed and then descendsl throng the bed. to the strainers bygravity assisted by the in- Huence of the negative-head or suction. As

thel water descends `throu h the sand, or

equivalent'ltering 'materia the impurities are lretained in the'lter-bedvand the aircont'ain'ed in.l the'wateris separatedfrom it, the

greater 'portion of the 'air passing down through the water and rising through the strain'es into the pipes 8. As said pi s are inclined u ward toward the ma old or header ,7 't e' airrisestothe top of the pipes Sfasindiated at 13 in Fig.' 3, and passes u through' said; pipes' and the header 7Whc ar'ealso incline' upward at `thetop,tovvjrard `vthefdiscliarge pipe-6. l Thus the air continues u ward ntilplt passes out*I o4 the pi e -with e filtered-water. The result is t at`practicelly. 'the air separated from the water;

in y improved method is primarily intended consists in passin consists inf'pa its passage through they filterbed is carried out with the efiiuent, leaving the filter-bed free to contract as fully as it may under the influencent suction or the negative-head. Moreover, the bed does not become airchoked and consequently may be used for a much greater length of time Without Washfor use in purifyin water by filtration, but it may also be emp oyed where theprimary object is to remove air or other gases from water, in which case the passageof the water' 75 through a granular lter-bed, or equivalent apparatus, would be incidental to theV prin mary object of'removing from the Water all or a portion of the gases contained therein. In the latter case the water.. assedthrough the filter mi ht be perfectly clear before treatment. t will be understood, therefore, that the terms filter, filter-bed and air, las herein employed, are to be construc-d aceordingl v j That which I claim as m invention, and desire to secure by Letters atent,'is,-

1. The method of purifyin water, which consists in passing the water t rough a granular filter-,bed under the influence of suction, causing air to separate therefrom, and allowing the separated air to escape as filtration progresses.

2. The method of pun'fyin' water, what i 4. The methodiof puriyingwater, the water downward through a granular rated om the -jwater during its passa e 'through the vil.terbed being continuousy discha'r ed withtheltered water. L

'5. Tlemethodof purifyin water, which l the watert Oughagranular'iil'terfbed un er the'iniluence of anegal: tive-head, thev eir's'eparatedffrom ithe water y -during its'passage through'thelter-bed bel mg continuously-discharged with the filtered n water. v f' wiLLIaMLM. Witnesses: 1

dentali. JACKSON,

A; HUNTER;

ter-bedandat the same time'a plying'suction thereto, the airsepa- 110 

